New Cleats - Picture of the Day - March 31st

I logged on today and the first thing I noticed is I've past 1500 hits on this blog.  Wow, for me that's crazy train.  My first thought was People, Why? Honestly, do you see the shit I put up on a daily basis? My second thought was of course they see the awesome shit I put up....it's awesome!  So thanks for checking in, I really do appreciate you people and your eyeballs.

Ok, today is Opening Day MLB style!  A new year, a fresh start.  Every team has a chance today, every team is shiny and new.  I'm optimistic about my teams chances, this could be the year they win it all.  Of course this feeling wont last.  I'm sure to be pretty surly after the Cubs drop 2 of 3 to the Pirates this weekend and reality sets back in.

This year the start of baseball is a little different though.  I know I have the Cubs to kick around, that's always gonna be there but this year my oldest daughter starts T-Ball.  I'm super excited.  I love getting little kids sports equipment, its really adorable.  So I went out and got her a bat, glove & batting helmet but I couldn't find her cleats.  Her feet were too small, nobody had her size.  Well, it took me a couple days but I finally found her the shoes she needed.  I love them, they are super cute and super tiny.  So that's my picture of the day, my daughters new cleats.

Suede - The Beautiful Ones - Song of the Day - March 30th

I love this band, one of my favorites from the 90's Brit Pop scene.  Luckily I got to see them live once, they were absolutely brilliant.

One Goal Received - Picture of the Day - March 29th

You know what's cool? Free Stuff.  You know what's even cooler? Free Blackhawks stuff.  I got home yesterday and I saw a package sitting by my front door.  I went over and picked it up, weighed a ton........ok, more like 2 lbs.  I had no clue what it was.  I knew we hadn't ordered anything so what could it be?  I opened the box to find something that was rock my face off awesome.  The Blackhawks sent me a copy of One Goal Achieved - The Story of the 2010 Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks.  Sounds nice, eh? It is!  It's got tons of extra features for season ticket holders like an extra chapter, more goodies on the DVD and tons of cool inserts.  I gotta say, the Blackhawks have gotten so much better at taking care of their fans.

                                                                                    Yup, that says printed exclusively for...Me!



I miss you Adam Burish....





Rubber Chickens! - Picture of the Day - March 28th

So I heard a bit of news today that's absolutley wonderful.  Svengoolie is going national! http://feder.blogs.chicago.timeout.com/ 

What is Svengoolie?

Svengoolie is a local Chicago TV show featuring often low-budget horror or science fiction movies.  The show is hosted by Svengoolie, Rich Koz. Usually before and after commericals Svengoolie does various sketches, song parodies or tells really bad jokes.  Svengoolie would talk over the movie adding funny comments here and there during the film, very similar to what MST3K would eventually do.  Some people complained and now Svengoolie only spoofs a clip segment after the film is over.

There are two long running jokes on the show.  The first is often used word "Berwyn", the name of a Chicago suburb.  When said it's pronounced Beeeeeeerwyn. I didn't know the origins of this joke so I had to look it up.  Apparently it's a parody of the way "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" and Johnny Carson would jokingly refer to "Beautiful Downtown Burbank."  Another long running joke involves throwing  rubber chickens at Svengoolie.  This usually happens after a cheesy joke and at the end of the closing sketch of each episode which has Svengoolie closing his coffin while rubber chickens are flung his way.

Yup, I really do have my own chicken.

I love Svengoolie, I always have.  I guess my love of low budget horror/scifi started early.  I grew up watching his show every Friday night.  I don't remember the order they came on but if it was Friday I knew I'd be watching Elvira and Svengoolie.  So check your local listing because Svengoolie is going to be on your TV on Saturday nights soon.

F1 - Picture of the Day - March 27th

Welcome back open wheel racing, it's nice to have you around again.  Today kicked off the Formula One season with the Australian Grand Prix.  It was nice to hear the hum of the cars zipping around Melbourne.  What did I learn today?   Well Sebastian Vettel is fast, really fast......I mean crazy train fast.  It was nice to see some new faces especially Sergio Perez driving the Sauber-Ferrari.  I love seeing a Mexican driving F1 now that Robert Kubica, a Polish lad, is gonna be out for a bit.  I like having at least one of my motherlands represented.  So now I'm gonna settle in and watch Indy Cars Grand Prix of St. Pete to complete my open wheel kickoff weekend.  Adios.

Notice the lack of cars around Vettel.  Like I said, crazy fast.

Vettel picking up where he left off last season.  Hamilton wondering what more he can do.

Happy Birthday! - Picture of the Day - March 26th

Happy Birthday @PeachezVilla!!!!  Once I called you brother and to this day I still do.  Of course, I picked the most flattering picture for this post. hehehe  Why you so angry? Ok, ok, ok...Yes, my cats are old enough.  They are interested in Jesus and would like a pamphlet so why don't you get on that, ok?

Note: This is for Jason because I know he's rolling his eyes right now.  What am I doing? Laughing at myself, that's what.  So yes, I'm Catholic.  I have faith that God doesn't hate me for having my sense of humor.  If you give me enough time I will poke fun at everything, including myself.  So there, just so you know.

Crane - Picture of the Day - March 25th

So you're saying, oh look that's a pretty cool crane! You'd be right but this little guy represents a bit more than cool.  What does this little crane represent?   Hope I guess, good will, people pulling together to help each other.  As everybody knows Japan has been hit really hard these last couple weeks.  Luckily, there have been tons of people giving their time, money, work and thoughts to help the people of Japan.  I really felt like I had to do something, even if what I did was tiny. 

Ultimately, I gave a little money to Red Cross to help out.  It's what I could do so I did it.  If you check out http://www.susanfujiki.com/p/cranes-for-japan.html you will see where the crane came from.  A great idea that I believed inspired a few people to give when they might not have otherwise.

So for me personally this crane will always represents a moment in time.  A moment when I gave, even just a little, to help people in need.  I feel pretty good about that.

Ahhh Cadbury - Picture of the Day - March 24th

What is the single greatest thing about Easter? Bunny Rabbits? Nope. Jelly Beans? Nope. Zombie Jesus? You're probably saying c'mon do you have to involve zombies in everything? I say yes! Zombies are a threat, they won't stop because it's Easter so you have to be prepared and have a plan and you know he's technically a zombie at that point but still......Nope. The single greatest part of Easter is the Cadbury Caramel Egg.  It's the perfect blend of sugary goodness that makes you want to jump up and down for 14 straight hours.  I got my first one of the season today.  Let the sugar induced crazy begin! 



Honey, if you read this before I get home don't worry, I got you one too.


Addendum : Again Jason, my conscious....actually my supervisor, chimed in with this little tidbit. "Zombie Jesus? I'm worried you might be offending someone and they wont read anymore." *Sigh* Jason, Jason, Jason....anybody reading this should know that I will force a zombie reference into any situation.  I once even had an idea for a movie about a zombie eating KFC while training for a marathon.....Uhhh, that's actually true....So this wont be the first or last time you hear about them here. If you didn't know already now you do, I loves the Zombies.

Go Hawks! - Pictures of the Day - March 23

Hockey for me! Yeah Hockey!  I went to the Blackhawks games tonight and had a blast.  It always helps when the Hawks win.  I have to say that even though the Hawks picked up the win they played horrible. Actually horrible is being nice.  The pile of shit the Hawks tossed out on the ice during the 1st period tonight was some of the worst hockey I've seen in years and I've seen a lot of hockey.  The only thing that saved them was that Florida sucked even worse than they did.  Holy Cow, it was bad....really bad.  But they managed to put together a few minutes of ok hockey and pulled this one out.  I must give credit to Corey Crawford, he played outstanding tonight.  So here's some pictures and a video from tonight game.

Warming up

Got to my seat early

Game Action

Went and got me some Nachos.  I love the Nachos.

3rd period Faceoff

 And finally what all Blackhawks fans love to hear and what sends chills down the spines of all Canucks.

Lazy - Picture of the Day - March 22nd

Well, it's 11:29p.m. and I don't really have anything for you today......Uhhhh....sorry? Hmmm, not too sorry though.  I made the choice to be extremely lazy tonight.  I sat on my ass watching Star Gate Universe, which was fabulous, while playing words with friends all night.  Yes, yes I know I made fun of it but damn it's addictive.  To the person who is rolling their eyes reading this, you know who you are and I expect you to make fun of me tomorrow.  So in advance, blah blah blah....

This is where my lazy butt sat for at least 3 hours.

Super Moon 2..3...oh wait, 4. - Picture of the Day - March 21st

In honor of this weekends Super Moon I give you Super Moon 2: Super Moon in the Hood....Oh wait I meant Super Moon 3: Super Moon in, uhhh, Space?......No, no.  Lets try this again.  I give you Super Moon 4: Super Moon Back in the Hood.  Ok, that's just gonna have to do.  And just to let you know by the time we filmed Super Moon 4: Super Moon Back in the Hood the budget was.....less than super, so instead of Super Moon playing Super Moon we have this.....

I don't even know why I went this far. Did anybody even watch Super Moon 2 or 3???

Sunday Morning - Picture of the Day - March 20th

Have kids? Want a quiet Sunday morning? Well I have a recipe that can buy you at least 20 or 30 minutes, sometimes even an hour!  If you don't have kids you are probably snickering and thinking 20 minutes, that's nothing!  For those of use with kids, especially little kids, we know how precious 20 minutes is.  Hell, a full hour break might as well be a vacation in the Bahamas!

So the recipe.  The first ingredient can vary a bit but the key is the length.  Today I used this...

 Don't fall in the trap of using a half hour show or a show with lots of commercials.  Sesame Street is great.  No commercials and an hour long, perfect!  But that's not all, you need another ingredient.  This next one is key. It anchors the kids down, gets them sitting and keeps them sitting for a bit.

After you combine these two its up to the kiddo gods to decide how long you have.  You're gonna get at least 20 minutes out of this but I've seen it go on for a full hour before.  My suggestion is grab a blanket and try to sleep on the couch but you can decide how you want to use those precious minutes.  Enjoy.

Ahhhh Spring - Pictures of the Day - March 19th

You know what it feels like? Spring! Yes, we've been flirting with Spring for a couple weeks but it finally feels like Spring is here to stay.  Don't get me wrong, I love Winter and all that comes with Winter.  I love the cold, the snow and the terrible cabin fever.....ok, not that last one.
So why am I so convinced Spring is here to stay?  Well the signs are all around us.  If you were by my house a couple days ago you would have seen me washing the windows, the outside of the windows.  I never do that before Spring....never.  Today was the clincher though.  We took the kids to the park for the first time this year AND they didn't have to wear jackets.  That's huge, that's...........Spring!

TMNT + Friday Poll = Awesome - Pictures of the Day March 18th

I know, I know, it's getting late and I should have done this much earlier but today got busy.  Busy in a good way but still very busy.  Ok, what's today's topic? Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, specifically which one was the best.  I can hear you now "But Phil, Raphael is clearly the best around.  Nothing is ever gonna keep him down."  I know but I still have to do this so those other losers know why they're wrong.  So here it goes and I'm gonna keep this quick because of the lack of time before the Friday Poll closes.  Oh yeah, you can vote over at http://www.susanfujiki.com/ The poll is on the right hand side.

Donatello -
Donatello is the scientist, inventor, engineer & peace maker who wears the purple mask and uses the bo staff.  Well science boy, while the rest of the turtles are kicking some ass, except Michelangelo, all you are thinking about is how to get out of the fight.  I don't think being a sissy turtle was in the job description of mutant ninja turtle so for that you cannot be the best turtle. 

Michelangelo -
Michelangelo was the relaxed surfer funny guy of the group.  He wore the orange mask and wielded a pair of nun chucks.  Ok, so Michelangelo is better than Donatello.  At the very least he didn't mind mixing it up a bit but he was so damn lazy.  It's fight time, where's Michelangelo? On his ass eating pizza, that's where he was.  It's this lack of commitment that makes him not even close to being the best.

Leonardo-

Leonardo wore the blue mask and wields two katana.  Ok, Leonardo is one kick ass fighter.  One bad ass dude but he's just too serious.  Ease up a bit and you would be the best.  In fact, if he eased up a bit he would be Raphael.

Raphael

Raphael is the perfect ninja turtle wearing his red mask and wielding his matching pair of sai.  He is a fierce fighter, extremely loyal, hard working & still has a sense of humor.  Raphael is the total ninja turtle package and so he clearly is the best Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.